A quote from a current 2002 Jetta TDI owner:

At 100,000 km (62,000 miles) VW requires the operator to replace the
timing drive which includes the idler ($175Cdn.) for a total service
cost of this operation of ~$900Cdn. In a word...Ouch! But since it is a
'zero clearance' engine having any sort of timing problem will create a
much more expensive repair.

Philip Chidlaw

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Donald Baxter
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 11:00 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: OT - soliciting Jetta TDI reviews

I've heard that the timing belt in the 1.9 TDI required replacement at
20,000 mile intervals...